The recruiting process can be a rather tedious one, especially when a high-school athlete is a blue-chip recruit that all the major colleges want.
There are constant phone calls at all hours of the day and night, numerous letters in the mail everyday and coaches making visits like they live next door.
LSU freshman guard Darrel Mitchell, Jr. went through all those things during his senior season at St. Martinville while he was busy leading his team to a Louisiana Class-4A State Championship.
“Late, early, early in the morning before I went to school, sometimes 11 and 12 o’clock at night,” the 5-foot-11 Mitchell said of the phone calls he received from interested coaches. “They were just calling to check up on me and talk. At first it was kind of aggravating because I was not used to it. But then I got used to it.”
Mitchell was getting all the attention for good reason.
Besides leading St. Martinville to a state championship, he averaged 24.6 points, 3.3 assists, 2.9 steals, and 3.1 rebounds per game. Add that to the numerous awards he received, such as Farm Bureau Mr. Basketball, the Gatorade Player of the Year, LHSAA All-State, Top 28 Most Valuable Player, District MVP and Class 4A MVP, and Mitchell became the best player in the state.
“I was pretty surprised I received all the awards that I got,” Mitchell said. “I was not the only good player in the state. I know there was others. It was an honor for me to receive the awards that I did.”
Luckily for head coach John Brady, LSU received his services.
With the likes of Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Houston, Mississippi State, Arkansas and Fresno State hot on his trail, Mitchell chose LSU because he was most comfortable in the purple and gold.
“Just like my high-school team, when I came on my visit, all the players and the coaches were together,” Mitchell said. “I got along with these guys better than all the other people that I visited.”
In high school, Mitchell had the good fortune to be coached by his father, Darrel Mitchell, Sr. It is obvious on the court, as Mitchell has been very competitive in practice and has displayed an advanced knowledge of the game of basketball.
“At home we would talk about the games and things I needed to work on,” Mitchell said. “So in practice, whatever he would tell me at home I would go in and work on it in practice. I think it is an advantage to have your dad as a coach, because you may not learn as much from somebody else as your dad, because he wants you to go further.”
Mitchell said his new coach, Brady, reminds him of his dad in a few different ways.
“He is just like my dad,” Mitchell said of Brady. “He gets on me and tells me what I need to work on. He is a shadow of my father.”
The freshman knows he can make a solid contribution as a first-year player, as long as he gets a chance to prove what he can do.
And he should, as he has drawn high praise from Brady and the other players on the team.
“Mitchell can really play,” senior swingman Ronald Dupree said. “With his size and being Louisiana Mr. Basketball, with all those accolades, I didn’t know if he could play or not. He has definitely lived up to his name and hype.”
In the Tigers’ first exhibition game last Thursday against Global Sports, Mitchell played 12 minutes and scored zero points on 0-for-3 shooting in the 78-69 LSU loss. However, he pulled down three rebounds and got in the flow of the offense.
“Most people would be nervous, but I was kind of excited to play,” Mitchell said. “It was my first college game, and I will get better.”
Mitchell said it should not be too hard to accept his role, which will greatly change from his senior year at St. Martinville, when the offense revolved around him.
“I knew it was going to be like this,” Mitchell said of his diminished role. “So I just kind of prepared myself to be more of a help instead of the man. Hopefully next year and my years after that, I’ll get back leading my teammates.”